Smart Urban Environments

Worldwide cities are facing new challenges, caused by technological, climatic or social changes. The urban space of the future must therefore be notably flexible and resistant in order to be able to adapt to these constantly changing requirements. This development requires the use of smart concepts, which must be equally secure, sustainable and flexible, in order to guarantee the long-term functionality and quality of life of urban agglomerations around the world.

The Competence Team Smart Urban Environments develops creative and sustainable solutions for the urban space of the future. This is being implemented through the consideration of flexible technologies and various influencing factors from such areas as energy, mobility, city planning, social interaction, social change or security. Through studies, urban test labs and targeted technology management, the relevant influencing factors and possible potentials are being systematically investigated and serve as a basis for equipping urban spaces with the necessary adaptation mechanisms for an unforeseeable future.

A key success factor for the shaping of urban concepts of the future is the networking and coordination of technologies and competences from different areas as well as the promotion of an interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and knowledge. The networking of such actors as citizens, companies, politics, cities and research facilities, should extend beyond national borders. It is necessary to adapt the developed concepts to the respective cultural and geographic conditions and simultaneously to open up new, promising markets which can benefit from German and Baden-Württemberg know-how in the field of sustainable construction and urban development.

Overview of services:

● Studies based on qualitative and quantitative data collection

● Development of szenarios and concepts & action recommendations

● Scientific support of experiments in urban areas

● Big Data Evaluations

● Development of intelligent neighborhood concepts

● Internationalization of approaches for sustainable construction and urban development

● Creative formats for the networking of actors

Teasers Set

User Behaviour

We do research on user behavior in context with urban mobility and new mobility concepts. One of our focal points is mobility comfort in multimodal transportation systems.

Smart Districts

The aim of the joint research project "Smart Neighborhoods" is to identify current and future developments at an early stage and to develop concrete action plans to successfully design and implement new business models as well as supply concepts for existing and emerging city districts.